JorgeA

Wandering through the Register's site after checking out @Charlotte's links, I found these articles that show that even the Linux world is getting infected by the invasive bug: Canonical bungs kill switch onto Ubuntu's Amazon 'adware' Fans revolt over Amazon 'adware' in Ubuntu desktop search results Wow, not even Microsoft has dared to insert products for sale into our desktop search results, or to route searches of our desktops through their servers. With its gaudy Unity interface, Ubuntu was already off my list of candidates for a Windows replacement OS. This ensures that it will stay off the list. --JorgeA

The second page of the middle article has some great stuff on it: --JorgeA

That is fabulous!!! I can picture the plot line: the terrorist just barely gets away because... --JorgeA

Finally, a cell phone that I can figure out!!! We have a pair of phones from about ten years ago. It has actual keys/buttons to press, rather than a touch screen. Trouble is, instead of words to indicate their function, the buttons have meaningless hieroglyphs on them (hockey-stick lines in differing colors ). This is probably for international marketing reasons, but that only means that EVEN MORE people can't figure out what the buttons do! I can't tell you how many calls I've messed up or missed completely because in a pinch (as the phone's ringing) I can't remember and can't figure out which button to press to do what. Maybe I should look into getting one of those ownfones for myself. How about a pair of buttons clearly labeled, PICK UP and HANG UP. Or, for the benefit of those who never knew what "picking/hanging up" a telephone receiver meant, maybe they could say START CALL and DISCONNECT. Ya think I could patent that idea? So many other idiotically simple notions seem to be patentable, and I don't recall seeing any cellphone maker actually using the concept. (That's not to say they haven't used it.) Or instead of START CALL, we could put a Windows Start Button on it , people still know what it does and it's Microsoft abandonware. --JorgeA

Man, these two Acer honchos Wang and Wong ( no I'm serious, Chairman Wang and President Wong ) I just had to laugh! Sounds like the names of the bad guys in some martial arts B-movie... From the blog post, a dose of reality: [emphasis added]This should the the lock screen on Tami R.'s and Steve B.'s Windows 8 PCs. JorgeA

PCs aren't dead, they're microwaves I'm not sure if we linked to this piece already, but I wanted to comment on something in it. Aside from the empirical aspect suggesting that Windows 8 has actually deepened the PC sales slump, there's the following conceptual angle: The idea is that PCs are becoming like "appliances." Now, what's the distinguishing characteristic of an appliance? That it has a simple interface so that (the thinking goes) as many people as possible can use it. With its Modern UI featuring big single-color tiles and low information density per screenful, Windows 8 advances the process of converting PCs into appliances. Thus, if being an appliance is a problem in terms of creating excitement and stimulating PC sales, then the problem is exacerbated, not mitigated, by Windows 8. IMO the PC's complexity is an asset and not a liability. It is a source of wonderment. I suggest that the mystique of the computer -- with its arcane jargon, its maze of directories and subdirectories, its seemingly magical workings -- is precisely one of the biggest reasons for its success. The PC captured the public's imagination. Remove from view that mystique, that intriguing complexity, and then truly it becomes a ho-hum device worthy of no more thought than the microwave oven sitting on your kitchen counter. PC users deserve more credit than they get from industry executives and commentators. We are not repelled by complexity, we are attracted to it. Sure, there will always be people who feel deterred by the existence of any learning curve at all, but I contend that if PCs had been from the start as simple and closed as some want to make them, then today they would remain a limited, niche product because nobody would have had any interest in exploring them. How many people make it their avocation (let alone their vocation) to plumb the depths of toasters or DVRs? It's the tinkering, the exploration, that leads to discovery and to the cross-pollination of ideas which fuels development. Remove that source of endless fascination, and over time the evolution of computing will slow down to a crawl and ultimately come to a halt. The optimal model for maximizing computer sales in the long run might be a PC that the user may choose, at will, to approach as either a simple device or as the intricate apparatus that it really is. Those with simple needs can live in a tablet environment, while those who prefer to dig deeper can live in a desktop and file system without ever touching the tablet interface or being touched by it. I pray to the MS gods that they hear my plea. --JorgeA

Yeah, these download numbers represent users who (1) want a real Start Menu, (2) realize that it's possible to install a Start Menu, and (3) know enough to go looking for one. Now, if Microsoft were to offer a Start Menu/Start Screen selection window upon first boot (like they're supposed to do in Europe with respect to a browser), I wonder how many users would pick the Start Menu. Instead of 8 million Win8 Start Menu users, there might be 40 or 60 or 98 million (out of the "100 million licenses sold"). Another way to look at it is that it's a case of "the pot calling the kettle black." I have a pet theory (that I haven't pursued) that, "for him who hath understanding," the Mark of the Beast is the integrated circuit: If you look at them, they could be said to look like rows of 6's (and 1's, for those who say that the number is actually 616). An ancient Greek such as the writer of Revelaton wouldn't have been familiar with the Arabic numeral system, though -- which is where the "having understanding" part comes in: it's a message for the age that has all the tools needed to understand it. When you think about all the nefarious things that this mark is bringing about (a totalitarian surveillance state with the eventual abolition of cash where you need an electronic device to buy and sell), it gets suggestive. Not saying that I subscribe to the theory necessarily, only that when I first made the connection, I went "whoa!" But this is OT. --JorgeA EDIT: When I closed the MSFN window and went back to Outlook, there were 666 e-mails in my inbox...

Wow, that was pretty creepy, especially the chant in the last 3-4 minutes. Pretty well done overall, though. Pride (which goeth before a fall) does explain a lot when it comes to what MSFT is doing. Maybe we can change our nickname for its blind followers to "metrojinns." --JorgeA

You read them perfectly. No further translation needed! --JorgeA

Spot on. A lot of people seem to have a "herd instinct" that induces them to join and cheerlead for stuff that they might not support were it not for the fact that other people are supporting it. Then there are the servile minds who acquiesce to whatever "the powers that be" (in this case, Microsoft) decree ought to be the case. Not just follow along, but actually embrace it enthusiastically. And then there are those who are happy to try to impose this stuff on the rest of us. Lastly, yes of course there are those who do find that they simply prefer the workings of Windows 8, Metro, the Cloud, software subscriptions and other things that we critique here. If I may be allowed a little pedantic quote here ... de gustibus non est disputandum. --JorgeA

It's more like a thimbleful of data, no? In any case, an example of GIGO that's easily contradicted by time-and-motion analysis, as we've set forth in this thread over the last year. @xpclient would surely have a trainload of things to say on the subject. --JorgeA

Ditto for this one: The Quest for a Third Mobile Platform [emphasis added]To history buffs, Microsoft's efforts to make it in the mobile arena may bring to mind Germany's ambitions early in the last century to compete on the high seas with the Royal Navy. --JorgeA

Interesting article, which hopefully will still be viewable when you click on it: Microsoft Concedes Windows 8 Misses Expectations Apple, for all its own faults, has shown more sense than Microsoft in this regard. --JorgeA

Makes sense to me. In my mind, this means that the PC market isn't imploding, as some people believe, but rather that it's reaching a steady state where, as you point out, new sales will more or less balance out obsolete or broken-down machines. This market will remain at a level of some hundreds of millions of sales per year. They're the ones who will get scr*wed by MSFT's obsession with making it in the mobile segment. The greatest potential for sales growth is now in emerging markets, where not every household has a PC yet. However, they're nipping that growth potential in the bud with the introduction of more-expensive touch-enabled devices, which will nudge computers out of reach for people who can barely afford a PC now as it is. --JorgeA

We need to get you a badge of some sort! B) Maybe something to use as an avatar... --JorgeA

Interesting. The chart shows that Windows 8 sales have dropped steadily from over 1,400,000 a day in the first month, to about 520,000 a day -- and are still dropping. (And yet the Neowin writer says that it's "selling considerably well.") Incidentally (and this is not a crucial point), if the chart is correct, then the initial drop came well before the January deadline for getting the cheap $40 introductory price. --JorgeA

That really is mind-boggling. Thank you! Every little bit helps to make it less intolerable. Although I do go back and forth between wanting Win8 to stay as bad and unpleasant as possible, and wanting it to improve. I guess that improvements could at some point bring it to a threshold of tolerability, and maybe that's what MSFT is hoping for with the promised changes coming in Blue. But in order to ensure this they'll have to play it safe and give (back) more rather than less. Enough changes like this and one could even start moving from grudging toleration to enthusiastic endorsement. --JorgeA

I got one laugh from reading the article title, and then a second laugh reading your comment. --JorgeA

I liked this comment on page 3 of the first link: --JorgeA

Great graph, where'd you find it? This is just the sort of global OS data that I was hoping for (not breaking it down into separate "desktop" and "mobile" categories). It shows vividly why the 'Softies are so scared: they see the plot line for Windows share plummeting and think that the only hope is to turn Windows into Tiles. What's happening is that they made the common mistake of assuming that current trends will continue unchanged into the future. (If that method worked, then the Dow Jones, which rose from 776 to 7600 in the 15 years from 1982 to 1997, today would stand well above 74000. Or going from 14000 in 2008 to 6500 in 2009, it would now be at about 900. You can't just crudely project figures into the future like that. (Well, you can but the adjective to describe that can't be printed on this forum...) IMO what's going to happen is that tablets and PCs eventually find a more-or-less stable level of use. No doubt many who historically were using PCs really only needed a toy device to browse the Web and tell their friends they just opened a bag of potato chips, which is why the Windows share is plummeting in favor of Android and iOS. But it's not plummeting into oblivion, it's settling to a new natural level. There are and will always be a large number of people who need or prefer a real PC. If left alone, Windows (real Windows) would reach that level and continue to dominate that segment of the market. But by trying to make Windows into a one-size-fits-all "solution," Microsoft has come up with a strange hybrid that isn't really tailored for any audience. (Too expensive devices for tablets, too clunky UI for PCs.) Ultimately -- and pending what if any real changes are coming in "Blue" -- Microsoft will have to choose between its leading product becoming a modest (maybe even lttle) fish in the mobile pond, or continuing as the big fish in the desktop pond. Windows can't be both. --JorgeA

Ah, I see now. OK, here goes -- The model in the Microsoft pic is wearing an orange t-shirt, while the Apple model is wearing a blue t-shirt. The Microsoft model's collar under the t-shirt matches her long sleeves, whereas the Apple model is wearing something with a dark collar under her t-shirt. The company logo on the Microsoft model's t-shirt is on the sleeve, while the company logo on the Apple model's t-shirt is on the chest. And a bonus one: The string on the Microsoft model's name tag is black, while the string on the Apple model's name tag is white. You really should cut it out with the sarcasm. These are important differences that set off one brand from the other in the public's eye. Anybody else want to give it a shot? --JorgeA

Umm... how about The Microsoft pic shows drawings of products and boxes, whereas the Apple pic shows actual products and boxes. The background in the Microsoft pic is abstract and 2D, while the background in the Apple pic is a real-life, 3D setting. Kind of like their respective OS interfaces. The model in the Microsoft pic is wearing an orange t-shirt, while the Apple model is wearing a blue t-shirt. Not sure how much of a "key" difference that could be, but nothing else jumped out at me! --JorgeA

This rumor is not good news if true. That would be one enormous delay, absolutely huge. And if true. this will be yet another case of a horrendous management screwup, not getting a license in place, which pretty much mirrors several other massive screw-ups like the Metro naming fiasco and the EU browser ballot. This should be one interesting announcement coming up, especially if they decide not to say when it will actually be available for sale, because that will in turn feed the fire that they are being held back over the Blu-Ray thing. My God, NuMicrosoft can't even hire decent lawyers anymore. Incredible ineptness. NuMicrosoft would have been crushed in the 80s by Atari, Commodore and Digital Research. Does Ballmer have photos where Bill Gates and the board are involved in a human-sacrifice ritual? If not, why isn't he fired already? Yeah, he must know where the bodies are buried, or something equally bad. --JorgeA

@Ballmer: GIVE ME AERO GLASS OR GO TO HELL M.F....! Lots of good perceptive observations in that discussion. Here's two, including the following exchange: And then there's this comment: Like ciHnoN, I'd add Aero Glass to the list, but that commenter comes pretty close. --JorgeA

--JorgeA